Floaters: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments, and Natural Approaches

About 30 percent of Americans notice eye floaters, the flecks, cobwebs, or squiggly shadows drifting across one’s visual field.

Floaters may have many causes, including aging, injury or inflammation, and environmental factors. Illustration by Minghui Zhang

Floaters are small dark shapes, such as spots or threads, that appear to drift across your vision. While they are typically harmless and do not require treatment, they can occasionally signal a more serious eye condition. Their other names include eye floaters, vitreous floaters, floating spots, myodesopsias, and muscae volitantes (“flying flies” in Latin).

Floaters are quite common. Approximately 30 percent of the population in the United States is estimated to notice them.